I woke up Sunday morning and was determined to get all of my Christmas shopping done before it was time to watch football.

I decided to head out to the farthest place first, so I jumped on the 6 train and headed to the Upper East Side. I needed to pick up a gift certificate at Café Sabarsky and I decided I might as well enjoy a cup of coffee while I was there as well.

Unfortunately a lot of other people seemed to have the same idea as I did and there were no tables left for me when I arrived.

The maitre d’ told me the downstairs café, Café Fledermaus, was open with the same menu so I decided to check it out.

I walked in the café and was greeted, rather jovially, by two waiters with thick Austrian accents.

I was kind of taken a back by the enthusiastic greeting at first, until I realized there was no one else in the café besides myself. These guys were probably dying for a customer, so I happily took a seat.

Everything about the downstaits is kind of mod. Black and white checkered floors,…

Well Time Out New York just came out with its best picks for food and drink in 2008 and I figured, hey, I should do my own!

Precursor!!! Just so you know, not all of these places are new to 2008. Some have been around for a long time but I have only been able to try them for the first time this year.

This is my little favorites of the year list.

The funniest thing is that I didn't blog about half of them! I don't really know why I guess I was just really busy this year and I decided to save the best for last :)

So here goes:

Bacon Fat English Muffin at Momofuku KoFirst thing I thought of when I started this list. Not only was it one of the most unbelievable meals I have ever eaten OR scored a reservation too, this English Muffin was a sinfully delicious treat I will always remember.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! So I'm in Florida this year for the holiday which is kind of strange. It doesn't really feel like Thanksgiving because of the palm trees and sun. So I decided my Thanksgiving post wouldn't be a regular turkey and potatoes post either. Instead I'm going to show you one of the best fish tacos I have ever had right here in St. Augustine. These are the baja fish tacos from Nalu's.

Nalu's is actually just a small stand, kind of like a street meat cart in the city. You roll up, place your order and then sit at a little picnic table and wait for your food. About 10 minutes later you have a Styrofoam container filled to the brim with tacos, rice and beans and chips. The fish is only called the fish of the day and I think ours was a Mahi Mahi. It came with cabbage, cheese, and a baja sauce that was delicious!!! For around $7.00 I was stuffed to the gills and happy as a clam.

Just so you guys know there is a free food and wine tasting today at one of my favorite wine stores Bottlerocket on 19th street.

I went last year and they had a bunch of different wines to try along with some Thanksgiving foods provided by City Bakery (yum!) to get you ready for the holiday season. It's today from 2:00-5:00. Enjoy!

I talked about Amai bakery WAY back when they first opened on 3rd avenue. I’ve been there multiple times since and have come to love the little tea and cookie shop.

The other day I swung by and decided to forgo my usual green tea cupcake and instead got a caramel chocolate and a pumpkin.

They all have the same style, a small cupcake with a heavy, somewhat lopsided swirl on top.

The chocolate cake was light and fluffy with a nice coca flavor. The cake could have been a little bit moister but it was still quite fabulous.

The one thing I love about Amai cupcakes are that they aren’t very sweet.

You know how you can almost feel the sugar eating away at your teeth from some of the other bakeries in the city (And I DO love Magnolia, I just have to be in the mood for a super sugary treat when I go)

There is none of that here. The frosting was light with just a subtle taste of caramel.

It actually reminded me of the flavor of a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks but not as sweet.

Friday night I went out to dinner with my family at Papaya, an Asian fusion place in Buffalo. The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was fun. But the best part, in my opinion, is that it's next door to a dessert place called the Chocolate Bar! I had always heard good reviews about this place so I was psyched. Walking inside I immediately liked the decor. It was dark, sleek and a little sexy I guess. A good place for a date...Or with your entire immediate family..whichever you prefer.

They have a surprisingly large selection of wine and spirits, for a dessert place, so I ordered up a bottle of Pinot Noir and we put in our dessert order. Now since I'm on vacation and have SO much trouble choosing between desserts, I did the only thing one can do in these situations. I ordered two. The first one was the special of the month the pumpkin gelato.

This dessert was certainly quite stunning to look at and really got me in the Halloween spirit. Unfortunately it wasn't that great…

I've always been a person who NEEDS to have at least one piece of chocolate or sweet every day. I just don't feel right until I do. But lately I've been needing more. Not more chocolate but more dessert...Cupcakes, puddings, ice creams...my daily mini Toblerone and my scoop of Nutella just haven't been doing the job lately.

So the other day after lunch, I was heading to the nearby bodega for my sugar fix. You know, a Rocher or some other single serving piece of chocolate they usually keep on the counter. Something that makes me feel less guilty than buying a whole candy bar! But once I got inside, one look at the sad display of sweets I knew I needed something more So I decided to take a little walk and trekked all the way down to one of the best chocolatiers in the city..Jacques Torres.

Walking into his store is what I imagine it smelled like when Charlie first walked into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Except no Oompa Loompa's. I was overwhelmed by all of …

I'm going back to Buffalo this weekend to watch the Bills take on the Chargers in what I imagine to be a very, very tough game. I'm beyond psyched to see the game up close and personal for the first time this season. Last time I was home I talked a little about the food I had enjoyed although I never got around to talking about Tempo in downtown Buffalo, where I had a delicious Arugula and Prosciutto salad that was surprisingly accompanied by Feta cheese.

It came with a light lemon mint vinaigrette. The acid from this dressing really helped balance the strong taste of the Feta and it was delicious. My main course that night was also phenomanal the whole Branzino.

Yum!!! This came glazed in a Pesto sauce with a salad of sweet peppers and potatoes on the side. It was fabulous! I have had a lot of whole fish here in NYC and I would put this one up against the best here in the city. It was delicate, moist and simply bursting with flavor.

I was walking home from work today and had my mind on getting some sweets. My plan was to walk through Chinatown, up the LES a little bit and then stop at the Chikalicious Pudding store on my last leg and pick up some cupcakes since I’ve never tried them out.

Well as I was walking up Allen street I literally stumbled across this dessert shop. How Sweet It Is.

Since that was exactly what I had in mind, I went inside and loved what I saw.

A little counter housed a bunch of pastries, muffins, brownies and most of all different kinds of cupcakes!!

The woman behind the counter was extremely nice and she explained each off the different flavors of cupcakes, to me: Red Velvet, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Nutella, German Chocolate…I could go on but I think you get the picture.

The last one she said got me though. Their special of the week.

The Chocolate Guiness Stout cupcake with pumpkin icing and pumpkin cream cheese frosting in the middle.

The weekend was the NYC Food and Wine Festival and I have to say it was pretty awesome.

We had tickets to the second session of the Grand Tasting Saturday from 3:00-6:00. We showed up at the welcome center first and were greeted with free chocolates, a generous gift bag filled with all sorts of goodies and a free Waterford Wine glass.

I was pretty jazzed already and we hadn't even gotten into the Tasting yet!

The tasting was held on Pier 54 and it couldn't have been a more perfect day for the event. The sun was shining and everyone just seemed to be in a great mood.

Mr T and I got a chance to try everything! I mean everything! There wasn't a station we missed.

The best dish of the night goes solidly to Alex Urena from Pamplona.

This was braised Washugya Brisket with Manchego rice and Black Olive sauce.

OMG this was so good! The meat was so tender it just fell apart as you cut inside.

The sauce was excellent as well as the rice but the meat really stole the show on it's own.